HorseRacingBC Serving the British Columbia Horseracing community
Issue # 73
www.horseracingbc.ca
August 2015
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Can’t find a copy? Anyone wishing to receive this paper on-line can email jimreynolds@uniserve.com and simply ask to be put on a safe and secure mailing list. You will receive the paper in a unique PDF format each month. Yearling Photos Anyone in the lower mainland wishing to have photos taken of their yearlings for the September sale please contact Jim Reynolds at 604-315-2508. The photos will be used in the September issue of this paper where space is available and available to you for any other purpose you wish. NOTICE TO BC BREEDERS: To guarantee payment for the 2015 Broodmare Incentive Program applications, all requirements for the program must be received by the CTHS no later than July 31. Requirements include: 1. A current CTHS membership; 2. A Broodmare Incentive Program Mare Contract (signed); 3. A Stallion Contract (signed); 4. Certification from a vet stating your mare is in foal. Please telephone the CTHS BC office at 604. 534.0145 if you have any further questions. NEW! The Wittup Report Harness Horsemen. We now feature a monthly report from racing secretary Jackson Wittup of Century Downs racetrack. See pg. 2 Looking For Old Photos Looking for old photos that show the history of BC racing. Photos will be reproduced and published and returned safely. No win photos please The Thoroughbred Ladies Club of BC The TLC of BC, whose charity work and scholarship program has benefited backstretch workers at Hastings Racecourse since 1973, meets the first Tuesday each month. If you would like to join them in their worthwhile efforts or help at the occasional function, please call: HorseRacingBC is produced and edited by Jim Reynolds. Contact at: jimreynolds@uniserve.com Cel: 604-315-2508
‘THE GUV’
April 19, 1930 — July 22, 2015
Robert W. Hall He passed away peacefully on July 22. ‘The Guv’ in around the track was best known as the owner and trainer of one of Canada’s greatest horses, George Royal. Hall was born in Sligo, Ireland on April 19, 1930 where he developed a lifelong love of horses. He came to Canada in 1954 at age 24, and worked for Dot’s Log Co. at Knight’s Inlet. “I had no idea where Canada was and I had never heard of British Columbia but I was the youngest of four children so there wasn’t any chance of me getting part of my parent’s property and there just weren’t many jobs around at the time. When my friend said he was going to Canada, I decided to join him,” said Hall in an interview in 2011. In 1956 he went to work at Lavender Stock Farm in Walnut Grove, first galloping and then becoming the trainer for Elizabeth Gormley. He started out with train six head. Including Beau Sierra, winning an allowance race and two stakes races at old Sandown. Mrs. Gormley’s daughter Ann was intrigued when she heard about the good-looking Irishman who was training horses for her mother. “I was studying to be a nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital and thought I should check him out,” says Ann. “The first day I met him, my mom had a horse running and it won.” A romance blossomed and they were married in 1959. Earl Marks asked Hal to train his two horses; Never Out and Somerworth. Marks had not won a race in 14 years. Hall won the first race of the year for him and soon started to make a name for himself with horses like Desert Fire, a $1,100 claim that won the 1959 BC Premiers. In 1960 he won the BC Futurity with Ky Look and in 1961 finished second in the Futurity with Polly Royal. Shortly afterward Hall bought and trained a young horse called George Royal, certainly the best route and grass horse ever to come out of Canada. After George Royal came Timber Music who in 1971 became the first filly to be voted the Horse of the Year in British Columbia. Among other notable achievements Hall trained the champion filly Screaming Sue, and the top B.C. bred older horse, Big Brac among many other stakes horses from his small homebred stable. Bob, and his wife Ann, have created a legacy of which they were very proud. Along with the horses, they raised six children at Emerald Acres — “the farm that George Royal built”. Three of them are heavily involved in horse racing: Sandra Loseth as a trainer, breeder and owner, Jennifer Johnson and Phil Hall are also successful trainers and owners. Granddaughter Christine Loseth started her career as a trainer at Hastings in 2011 with three wins from her first nine starts while Grandson Justin Jensen is a jockey. Since his retirement in 1981 Mr. Hall often passed on his wisdom to young trainers starting out, offering advice wisdom when asked. ‘The Guv’ leaves a large hole in British Columbia horseracing.